What can you learn about the Sun while flying by at ~400,000 miles per hour, so close to the surface that parts of your spacecraft are glowing? A lot!

Join us on a journey to the Sun and back again with NASA's Parker Solar Probe mission. We'll follow the spacecraft as it dips toward the Sun, measuring the solar coronal plasma just as it blossoms out into interplanetary space as the solar wind.

Data from Parker Solar Probe mission is revealing our nearest star in a whole new light, teaching us about how the solar wind is powered, the origins of coronal mass ejections that drive space weather at Earth, how the Sun destroys the dusty remnants of asteroids and comets, and much more. Learn about this 'mission of firsts', from its historic origins to the completion of its prime mission in 2025 as well as the newest scientific results.

Bio: Dr. David Malaspina is an Assistant Professor in the Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences department at the University of Colorado, Boulder. His research focuses on the study of fundamental plasma physics in space environments and the development of spacecraft instruments to enable such studies. Using data from spacecraft, he has explored the Sun, the solar wind, the Earth's ionosphere and radiation belts, and the Lunar plasma environment. Knowledge of space plasmas is vital for understanding and predicting how solar activity, via space weather, impacts our increasingly technology-dependent society both on Earth and in space.